Month: May 2006
-
Stamp Out Pervasive Commercialism
For some time now, it has been pretty much impossible to parody the incursion of commercialism on the public realm. The latest evidence? The U.S. Postal Service last week announced plans to let corporations customize the stamps they use, to include advertisements for their products, services or corporate image. Beyond issues of taste, does this…
-
Tobacco and Trade Agreements
Essential Action recently filed comments with the US Trade Representative urging that tobacco be excluded from the ambit of the proposed US-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement. Our basic position is that there is no legitimate purpose for inclusion of tobacco products in trade agreements, which are designed to facilitate trade and remove tariff and non-tariff barriers…
-
Crime and Punishment
You have to be awfully hard-hearted to watch testimony from the family members of victims of a 2003 deadly nightclub fire in Rhode Island and not feel deeply moved. A local Boston TV channel has posted video here and a slideshow here. The family members were testifying at the sentencing hearing for Daniel Biechele, who…